The Forever Friends
by
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“Manny Bear, I want to dance! Get up! Get up!” After much grunting and “omphing”, Manny Bear managed to grab the squirming bunny and put her beside him on the ground, so he could stand up. “But we have no music, my rabbit friend,” said Manny Bear.
“Oh, yes, we do! Can’t you hear it?” exclaimed the little white rabbit. “It’s in our hearts. Open the ears of your heart, Manny.”
“Open the ears of my heart? What on earth do you mean?” questioned a puzzled Manny Bear.
Missy Rabbit looked at her friend with fondness. “Okay, close your eyes, Manny Bear.”
He closed his eyes.
“Now think of some beautiful music in your mind,” said Missy Rabbit.
He opened one eye and looked at his little friend. Missy Rabbit pinched his toe with her little bunny paw.
“Ow!” yelped Manny Bear. And he opened both of his eyes wide in surprise.
“Pay attention,” scolded Missy Rabbit. “I want to dance with you and the music has to be in YOU, since you will lead us.”
“Now, try again. Close your eyes, Manny Bear.”
Manny Bear closed his eyes and this time he kept them tightly shut. Little bunny toes can pinch quite hard.
“Now, what do you hear?” asked Missy Rabbit.
“Well,” hesitated Manny Bear, “nothing.”
“Listen harder and open your heart ears,” urged Missy.
“I’ll try,” the little brown bear sighed. Sometimes he just could not understand his small bunny friend.
So Manny Bear stood in the broad, beautiful meadow surrounded bybursts of color from the laughing blossoms. He quieted his mind and just let hissenses...sense. He couldn’t see the flowers with his eyes closed, but he couldsmell their fragrance and he could almost feel their presence around him. Then he heard the gazillion bees that sucked the nectar from the beautiful blossoms. They were all buzzing and flying and the little brown bear thought he could even hear their tiny wings whirr as they flew from blossom to blossom. There were also grasshoppers and he could certainly hear their wings. They sounded like bulldozers compared to the quieter, more sophisticated bees. He heard tiny, little feet pattering in the undergrowth. That must be the field mice that made the meadow their home. Overhead he could hear two birds chirping and twittering.As he listened, he began to feel the rhythm of the broad, beautiful meadow. All the creatures round about him were in sweet harmony together and in truth, they were making beautiful music. He was awed at the beauty of the unseen in the meadow, as well as, what could be seen with his eyes. The little brown bear’s heart filled with joy and wonder at the song of the meadow. Now, now, he finally understood what the little white rabbit meant when she encouraged him to open the ears of his heart. Now it was obvious to him.
Manny Bear knew for certain that his dearest friend, was indeed, a very special little forest creature. The little white rabbit had a way of making the wonder in the world a gift to others. With just a little bit of that unique bunny encouragement others saw and felt and experienced their forest home with new appreciation and enlightened senses.
“Now dance, Manny Bear,” whispered his friend. And she stood on her hind paws and reached up her small front paws and grasped Manny Bear’s much larger paws. With a little hop, she jumped right up on Manny’s feet, paw to paw.Manny Bear looked at his Forever Friend and said, “Yes, let’s dance then, Little One.” And smiling, Manny Bear closed his eyes, opened his heart’s ears and began to gently dance to the music in their world.
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About the Book
Manny, the little brown bear longs for a friend. But not just any friend. He longs for a Forever Friend. He wishes for a friend he can play with and laugh with, and dance and sing with. He wishes for a friend he can share all his happy thoughts and all his sad thoughts with. Find out what happens when Manny rescues a little white rabbit from a hunter's trap. Then follow them on their adventures as they happily explore their forest neighborhood.
"He looked at his new friend with wonder and said, “And I don’t even know exactly WHY I was laughing!”
“Oh,” she said, “I was just so happy to be free and so relieved you didn’t want to eat me that I just started laughing.”
“Eat you?! Oh, no! Oh, yuck! Oh, gross! No way!” said Manny Bear, in a very shocked voice.
“Yuck? What do you mean….YUCK!” the little white rabbit asked in a huffy tone. “Don’t you think I would taste good? What’s wrong with me? I am not gross or yuck!”
Then realizing it might sound as if she were inviting him to have a taste she changed her mind. In a tiny voice, she said, “Never mind. I’m sure I must taste just awful anyway.”
The little white rabbit sat up and offered her tiny paw to Manny Bear. He took it very gently in his much bigger paw.
She said, “My name is Missy Rabbit and I am very pleased to meet you. Thank you for saving me.”
Then they looked at each other and began to laugh all over again. By the time they finished laughing they were the best of friends. They were Forever Friends."
About the Author
Gina Lynne is a mother, and a Gigi. What is a Gigi? A Gigi is the most fortunate Grandmother in the world. She lives in Augusta, Ga. Gina Lynne is just a regular working stiff with an imagination, and has always been a tremendous reader and lover of books. She decided she wanted to leave a legacy for her progeny. Bursting with thoughts and visions of what our world could be like if we practiced the same friendship, love, and loyalty that are portrayed by the Forever Friends, Gina Lynne has endeavored to write a children’s book that contains some universal truths and plain good old sense.